How to repair Guitar Hero guitar Wii edition

Guitar Hero is over a dozen years old, and though not so popular as it was in 2005 it still captures the hearts of original Wii fans. Guitar Hero was introduced when video game motion control was in its hay day. Nintendo had a revolutionary idea with the original Wii and video game companies far and wide wrote tons of software to capitalize on the new systems.

My kids loved, and still enjoy Guitar Hero to this day, and enjoy firing up the old Wii or Wii U to get their guitar on. However like many teenagers they are not gentle with their equipment and managed to break our Guitar Hero guitar. I was looking to source on on Ebay or Amazon, but then thought to myself maybe it could be repaired.

Repairing The Guitar Hero Guitar

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8″ (200mm) Silicon Wafer With Amazing Chip Patterns

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if we never invented the micro chip? Micro chips and to that extent the micro processor should be hailed as one of the greatest inventions of all time. Most of our modern life would not be possible if we were not able to fit billions of  transistors in the space of a postage stamp silicon wafer. Just think about that statement for a moment! Your mobile phone would be the size of a car, your home computer the size of a room in your house. Constantly swapping out burnt vacuum tubes.

Micro chips to the rescue.

A Silicon Wafer Is Born:

Ever wondered how these chips are made? I never gave it a thought myself until I stumbled across these Silicon Wafers. For some reason or another these wafers were deemed defective so they were unable to continue the journey into computers, phones and other electronics. Some of the wafers were destined to become DRAM’s (memory) some designed to be micro processors, while others custom circuits for a specific job. Continue reading “8″ (200mm) Silicon Wafer With Amazing Chip Patterns”

Bandwidth Wars! How much speed do I need for my home?

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The marketing department loves to put their spin on just about every product and service for sale. This is also true as it pertains to Internet Bandwidth for your home. Technology companies and  computer hardware manufactures (as well as other manufactures) seem to think that we are all stupid sheep, and rather than educate us properly on what we really need they tend to force feed product in the hopes of increased profit.

Before I begin writing about how much Internet Bandwidth you need for your house, let me first show a few examples of how the marketing machine caused misleading advertising wars of the past.

Intel vs Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Way back in the 90s Intel wanted to increase market share and increase sales. The marketing department came up with a brilliant “Intel inside” campaign and began educating consumers on processor clock speed (MHZ & GHZ) They touted that a 90Mhz PC was better than the 60Mz and  AMD did the same. Both companies basically started an arms race to achieve the highest speed processor and consumers were led to believe faster is better. Here we are over 20 years later and we now know that clock speed is NOT a good representation of how fast a processor can perform. There are so many other factors that contribute to a FAST computer but I’m not going to cover that in this article. Marketing alone may have duped thousands into prematurely upgrading to a new computer. Continue reading “Bandwidth Wars! How much speed do I need for my home?”

Stay Hands Free In a Hands on World – Mobile Car Mount Roundup

There is close to 5 billion mobile phones in use in on our planet and almost 1.5 billion automobiles operating around the world. Through a very inexact science it may be safe to postulate that most drivers own a mobile phone.  For quite a number of years governments have been enacting hands free laws and promoting the concept of hands free in numerous public service announcements. In faClassicct at least 1/2 of the states in the United States have some type of hands free law on the books. My question to you is how do you keep your phone hands free, yet usable in your car? Which mobile phone car mount do you use?

Types of mobile phone holders:

There are many different types of mobile phone holders on the market, however when it comes down to it most of them can be lumped up into the following categories.

  • Suction Cup Mount
  • Vent Mount
  • CD-Slot Mount
  • Grip Pad
  • Cup Holder
  • Trim Clip Mount

Suction Cup Mounts – Really Suck (no really.. they suck onto the windows)

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Update your iPhone & iPad NOW 10.3.3 – New WiFi Vulnerability

This post is just a friendly reminder to update your IOS devices. As soon as your  done reading this, grab all of your iPhones and iPads and run the 10.3.3 update.

Apple has recently discovered a vulnerability in the WiFi chip that could allow an attacker within proximity of your phone to run unsigned code and gain unauthorized access to your device.

Just think of the hacking possibilities as you order your morning coffee at Starbucks, or while you walk the boardwalk this summer enjoying the beach. This new vulnerability will be exploited in public spaces where a large pool of targets are in range of the attacker.

How to update and prevent the vulnerability?

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Securifi Almond Wifi Router, Extender, Access Point – Review

About two weeks ago Amazon had their annual Prime Day 24+ hour sale, and like many Prime members I was looking for some bargains. Recently my family had been complaining that the WiFi signal in the upstairs of my home was not strong enough. At times they would find a better data signal on the cellular network causing everyone to use a ton of extra data each month. I decided I was going to give the Securifi Almond+ a try if it was on sale during Prime Day.

If you read my blog regularly you may have noticed I wrote an article regarding Google’s mesh Wifi System. The Google system is excellent and I highly recommend it for most home users, and at $270 for 3 units the price is great too. However in my case Google Wifi was not going to cut it because I wanted to keep my primary router. (Google wants to take over the entire home network)

RELATED READING- GOOGLE WIFI ONLY FOR BASIC USERS

Introducing the Securifi Almond+

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Nintendo Retro Does It Again – SNES Classic Coming Soon!

The retro hits just keep on coming! Nintendo has been banking on our love for nostalgia lately reviving tons of classic games and consoles. Late last year they released a limited production run of the NES classic that had about 30 installed classic NES games and included 1 retro controller. They were next to impossible to purchase selling out almost instantly everywhere and even bringing Amazon’s servers to a crawl. I guess the next console in the progression of things is the SNES Classic!

RELATED READING: Love retro gaming? This NES console can play every game!

SNES Classic launching later this year:

Looks like we will be able to purchase this closer to the end of the year, sometime  late September. This time around however the unit will include two controllers and will have an $80 price point.

Games will include:

Continue reading “Nintendo Retro Does It Again – SNES Classic Coming Soon!”

Google WiFi – Only for BASIC home users!

In early June I wrote a post that recommended a few different home Wifi extenders. One of the devices mentioned was the Google WiFi Mesh Network. Recently, I had the pleasure of trying one of these devices out for myself.

RELATED READING:
Poor WiFi Signal At Home? A WiFi Extender Can Help!

 

MeshI had recommend this device to one of my friends and a coworker and both have giving the units rave reviews. They said that setup was simple. Install an app on your smart phone, then scan a QR code on the bottom of the device. The rest was  point and click. The entire Google Wifi mesh network was up and running in a matter of minutes.

The network immediately begins reporting signal strength data, device information and a slue of other important information you would want to have regarding your home network. The system can even distribute bandwidth to devices the require it most. (Smart TV’s, Kodi box, ETC) Continue reading “Google WiFi – Only for BASIC home users!”

Amazon Echo Dash – Mostly a Disappointment?

I have to preface this by saying I am in no way an Amazon fan boy, however I do enjoy many of their products. Amazon has produced many huge hits in the past and a few major fails. Does anyone remember the Amazon Mobile phone? By far the Amazon Echo has been a huge hit, I have owned mine since its release.

Over the past few years Amazon has attempted to integrate their Alexa software into as many devices as possible. There is a slue of Echo devices, plus Alexa has been integrated into both the fire stick and Amazon tablet. You can even build your own Alexa out of a Raspberry Pi.

This time it would appear that the Amazon Echo Dash is more of a fail then a success.

Why is it such a fail?

First off and most importantly, this thing can’t play music. I can understand from Amazon’s point of view with a limited battery life and a speaker the size of a quarter I’m sure the sound quality would be extremely poor. I would love to have the option and make my own decision on usability.

Many users of the device have reported paying huge markups when ordering items via the bar code scanner. Continue reading “Amazon Echo Dash – Mostly a Disappointment?”

Fun Project – Nintendo Wii Remote Flashlight

If you read this blog on a regular basis you would already know I enjoy re-purposing broken electronics into new useful gear. I had an old Wii remote sitting around that was broken and it was calling out flashlight to me. I figured I would give it a shot.

My self imposed requirements called for using one of the original buttons to turn on the light, and I also had to reuse the original battery holder.

Tools you can use:

Triwing Screwdriver – Nintendo likes to use “special” screws across all their equipment. The Wii is no different and requires a Triwing screwdriver to open the Wii remote. This kit is $11.99 and covers them all!

 

About 12″ of wire the lighter the gauge the better. This 22 gauge wire collection would be a great addition to your tool box. $20.00 at Amazon Continue reading “Fun Project – Nintendo Wii Remote Flashlight”